“A Bronx Tale” actor Lillo Brancato Jr. sounded as if he was back on his old movie stomping grounds when he opened up about his stint in prison for his real-life role as an accomplice to a cop’s murder.

“ ‘It takes a second to get in trouble and a lifetime to get out of it,’ and I think about that every day because I did have many great opportunities . . . and [I] made the horrible choice to use and abuse drugs.”

The advice sounds eerily similar to the lessons he learned from movie dad Robert De Niro and the neighborhood gangster, Sonny, played by Chazz Palminteri.

“Sonny and my father always said that when I get older, I would understand,” Brancato’s character said in “A Bronx Tale.” “Well, I finally did. I learned something from these two men. I learned to give love and get love unconditionally.

“You just have to accept people for what they are, and I learned the greatest gift of all: The saddest thing in life is wasted talent, and the choices that you make will shape your life forever.”

Brancato, who also played a dimwitted mobster on HBO’s hit “The Sopranos,’’ was sprung from the slammer on New Year’s Eve after serving nearly a decade at Rikers, Oneida and Hudson correctional centers for a botched 2005 drug burglary that led to the shooting death of an off-duty cop.

Brancato, a reformed heroin and crack addict, and pal Steven Armento were trying to steal prescription drugs from a home in Pelham Bay in 2005. Officer Daniel Enchautegui, who lived next door, heard breaking glass and went to investigate.

Armento, who had a handgun, fatally shot Enchautegui in the chest. Armento is serving a life sentence for murder. Brancato, who was not armed, was convicted of attempted burglary.

Brancato, 37, said he is remorseful over Enchautegui’s death.

“I wish I could just take it back and I could bring Police Officer Daniel back to life,” Brancato said.

Brancato, whose first post-prison gig will be in a music video,
said acting is not his first priority. Staying sober is.

“The most important things to me right now are staying focused and giving back,” he said. “And using that second chance at life.”